Ukraine-Related Courses at Harvard 2016-17

The Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute is pleased to announce the following Ukraine-related courses offered by Harvard University.

Fall 2016

Ukrainian language courses

Ukrainian AA. Elementary Ukrainian I

Ukrainian AR. Elementary Ukrainian Tutorial

Ukrainian BR. Intermediate Ukrainian

Ukrainian CR. Advanced Ukrainian

Ukrainian AA. Elementary Ukrainian I

Dr. Volodymyr DibrovaMondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 9-10am

An introductory course in modern Ukrainian language and culture, designed for students without previous knowledge who would like to speak Ukrainian or use the language for reading and research. All four major communicative skills (speaking, listening comprehension, reading, writing) are stressed. Students are exposed to Ukrainian culture through work with prose and poetry as they learn to use the language both as a means of communication and as a tool for reading and research. This year-long full course (together with the second part in spring) satisfies the foreign language requirement and prepares students for continued study of Ukrainian in intermediate-level courses and for study or travel abroad in Ukraine. Part one of a two-part series. Please see language course notes for information about sectioning, pass/fail, satisfactory/unsatisfactory, auditing, and language track information. Course catalog listing.

Linguistics courses

Linguistics 250. Old Church Slavonic

Prof. Michael S. FlierTuesdays, Thursdays, 10–11:30am

History of the first Slavic literary language, its role in Slavic civilization; phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary of Old Church Slavonic; reading from canonical texts. Course catalog listing.

Literature and culture courses

Slavic 158 - Narrative Strategies in Gogol's Short Fiction

Prof. Oleh Kotsyuba Thursdays, 3-5pm

This course offers an opportunity to read Nikolai Gogol’s short fiction in the original while also reflecting on challenges for translation into English that Gogol’s language and style pose. We will explore contextual issues and productive critical approaches and pay close attention to Gogol’s narrative strategies, structural solutions, and the form and function of Gogolian humor. Weekly readings of short fiction will be placed in the context of larger theoretical issues (language, interpretation, narrative, translation, etc.). Students will prepare two short translations of their own and discuss functions of different text elements in short position papers and interpretive essays. We will also consider some film adaptations of Gogol’s works and discuss their success or failure in rendering the texts’ important features.

Slavic 168 - Post-Soviet and Post-Modernist Ukrainian Literature

Prof. George Grabowicz Thursdays, 2-4pm

Focus on Dibrova and the onset of Post-Sovietism; the post-modernist performance of Andrukhovych and the Bu-Ba-Bu circle; Izdryk; Prochasko; Kurkov, Zabuzhko and feminist and anti-feminist writing, Zhadan and the post-modern nostalgia for the USSR; Ukrainian literature in the diaspora: Yurij Tarnawsky and Vasyl Makhno. Course catalog listing.

Slavic 193 - Russian and Soviet Silent Film

Prof. Daria KhitrovaMondays, 2-4pm

Explores filmmaking and film culture from Imperial to early Soviet Russia; from the former?s deep and deliberately slow psychological melodramas directed by Yevgeni Bauer to super-dynamic, politically charged montage movies that brought fame to directors as different as Dziga Vertov, Lev Kuleshov, and Sergei Eisenstein. The range of genres include: revolutionary heroics, adventure films, eccentric and social comedies, newsreels and documentaries. Films from Russia will mix with Ukrainian and Georgian silent films. Readings (all in English) include contemporary film theory (now classic) and critical reviews. Weekly screenings will be arranged. Course catalog listing.

Slavic 222 - 20th Century Ukrainian Poetry

Close readings of the major 20th century Ukrainian poets and poetic styles from the eve of WWI and the Revolution to the decade before Independence in 1991. Special focus on early modernism (Tychyna); neo-classicism (Zerov and Ryls'kyj); futurism and Bazhan; the challenges to poetry imposed by official socialist realism, nationalism, and populist ideology; hermeticism, dissent, and experimentation (Stus, Lysheha, and the poets of the New York Group). Readings in the original; reading knowledge of Ukrainian required.

History courses

History 1270 - Frontiers of Europe: Ukraine Since 1500

Prof. Serhii Plokhii Tuesdays, Thursdays, 10am-11:30am

The history of Ukrainian territory and its people within a broad context of political, social and cultural changes in Eastern Europe in the course of the half of a millennium. Special emphasis on the role of Ukraine as a cultural frontier of Europe, positioned on the border between settled areas and Eurasian steppes, Christianity and Islam, Orthodoxy and Catholicism, as well as a battleground of major imperial and national projects of modern era. Course catalog listing.

Ukrainian studies seminar

Ukrainian 200 - Seminar in Ukrainian Studies

Prof. Serhii PlokhiiMondays, 4:15-6pm

Interdisciplinary seminar in Ukrainian studies with broad regional and comparative perspective. Faculty and invited scholars discuss a variety of topics in the humanities and social sciences. Students conduct an individually tailored reading and research project under the guidance of a faculty advisor and in consultation with other resident specialists. Course catalog listing.

Spring 2017

Ukrainian language courses

Ukrainian AA. Elementary Ukrainian II

Ukrainian AR. Elementary Ukrainian Tutorial

Ukrainian BR. Intermediate Ukrainian

Ukrainian CR. Advanced Ukrainian

Ukrainian AA. Elementary Ukrainian II

Dr. Volodymyr DibrovaMondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 9-10am

An introductory course in modern Ukrainian language and culture, designed for students without previous knowledge who would like to speak Ukrainian or use the language for reading and research. All four major communicative skills (speaking, listening comprehension, reading, writing) are stressed. Students are exposed to Ukrainian culture through work with prose and poetry as they learn to use the language both as a means of communication and as a tool for reading and research. This year-long full course (together with the first part in the fall) satisfies the foreign language requirement and prepares students for continued study of Ukrainian in intermediate-level courses and for study or travel abroad in Ukraine. Part two of a two-part series. Please see language course notes for information about sectioning, pass/fail, satisfactory/unsatisfactory, auditing, and language track information. Course catalog listing.

Linguistics courses

Linguistics 252 - Comparative Slavic Linguistics

Introduction to the historical phonology and morphology of the Slavic languages with special attention to relative chronology and linguistic geography. Course catalog listing.

Literature and culture courses

Slavic 151 - Gogol

Prof. William ToddWednesdays, 2–4pm

Close reading of Gogol's narrative, dramatic, and non-fictional texts. We will be paying close attention to the verbal aspects of Gogol's comic imagination, so a good reading knowledge of Russian is essential. From here we will discuss the temporal, spatial, and spiritual ramifications of Gogol's peculiar world and its creative response to contemporary cultural, historical, and national issues. The course will also examine the development of Gogol criticism with weekly assignments and discussions. Course catalog listing.

Slavic 280R - Slavic Culture: Seminar

History courses

History 1909 - East European Identities: Russia and Ukraine

Prof. Serhii PlokhyTuesdays, 2-4pm

Discusses the formation of modern national identities in the Slavic world, and traces the development of competing imperial and national projects from the Napoleonic Wars to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of independent successor states. Examines the reflection of growing national awareness in Russian and Ukrainian political writings, historiography, literature, and culture, as well as the role of multiple "others" in the formation of modern East Slavic identities. Course catalog listing.

Ukrainian studies seminar

Ukrainian 200B - Seminar in Ukrainian Studies

Prof. Serhii PlokhiiMondays, 4:15-6pm

Interdisciplinary seminar in Ukrainian studies with broad regional and comparative perspective. Faculty and invited scholars discuss a variety of topics in the humanities and social sciences. Students conduct an individually tailored reading and research project under the guidance of a faculty advisor and in consultation with other resident specialists.Part two of a two-part series. Course catalog listing.